Reyes Leaning Toward Marlins, But Wants To See More Offers

As Jorge Sedano, a contributor for the Miami Herald, first reported via Twitter that a team source told him that Jose Reyes to the Miami Marlins is “almost a done deal.” The news quickly gained steam and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, then reported that the Marlins have made significant offers to both Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Albert Pujols.

Yesterday, team owner Jeffrey Loria announced during a team ceremony, “This is an exciting moment in the history of the Marlins. The dream of our fans has finally come true.” Asked about the Rosenthal report, Loria said: “We made offers, but I’m not going to discuss them.”

Team president David Samson added, “What our job is, is to build a team with contingency plans,” Samson said. “We are going out and being very aggressive with free agents who we think can help the team. We have a first choice. We have a 1-A and a 1-B. This week did not happen by accident. We knew exactly who we wanted to see and when we wanted to see them and we are planning from there.”

Reyes is considered by many to be leaning heavily toward the Marlins and has a more realistic possibility of becoming a Marlin more so than Pujols.

Marlins officials said the shortstop loved his visit on Wednesday, and he wants to play in Miami. Reyes seems tailor-made for the market, has close friends on the team already and was very impressed by the new ballpark.

Regarding the Marlins new-found willingness to spend, Loria added, “We’ve never been penny-pinchers. We just haven’t had the ability to do it in the old stadium. Now we’re looking forward to a new era. It’s a new age.”

That said, one of our longtime readers Sach, who met and spoke to Jose Reyes on Friday at JFK Airport where he works, asked Reyes about the situation, “Jose told me that right now he’s leaning towards signing with the Marlins, but wants to receive other concrete offers from other teams. And we’ll see.” (Thanks, Sach)

As with most free agents, they usually don’t take the first ofer that comes along, especially at age 28 and at the peak of their game. I fully expect this Marlins hysteria to continue on until another team presents an offer to Reyes.

I do firmly believe the Mets will get the opportunity to match or counter any offer, and I expect this process to play right into December. As Reyes said, we’ll see.

I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73, '00 and '15, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction and interact with other passionate Met fans like you. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.

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